David Plunkert
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David Plunkert is an American
illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
and
graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for publishe ...
based in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. He is best known for his editorial illustrations and theater posters. His illustrations are highly conceptual, in two styles,
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...
influenced collage and spare blocky graphics.


Education

Plunkert graduated from
Shepherd University Shepherd University is a public university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the university enrolled 3,159 students in Fall 2020. History Shepherd University began when the county seat of Jeffers ...
in 1987.


Career

Plunkert and his wife Joyce Hesselberth co-founded Spur Design, a graphic design and illustration studio, in 1995. Plunkert's work has appeared on the pages of ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'', ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'', '' GQ'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
'', ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'', ''
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his w ...
'', ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...
'' and ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' magazines, as well as in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. Plunkert has also worked extensively with publishers and recording artists. Among his credits are the covers for
Natan Sharansky Natan Sharansky ( he, נתן שרנסקי; russian: Ната́н Щара́нский; uk, Натан Щаранський, born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky on 20 January 1948); uk, Анатолій Борисович Щаранський, ...
’s Case for Democracy and Richard Thompson’s You? me? us? Major clients have included
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
,
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...
, and
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. Plunkert was included in the group show “America Illustrata” which completed its international tour in 2000. His work is in the collections of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
, the
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile (New York City), Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the ...
, The University of California Design Museum, and the
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
. Plunkert has produced
illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vide ...
for the 2000
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
and for
Woodstock 94 Woodstock '94 was an American music festival held in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival of 1969. It was promoted as "2 More Days of Peace and Music". The poster used to promote the first concert was ...
. In 1995 he created the art for the "Yugo Nex

exhibition poster at New York's
Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern termi ...
. The
National Endowment of the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
in
Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
described "Yugo Next" as "one of the greatest ever examples of public art." On August 17, 2017, Plunkert tweeted his cover art for the following week's edition of ''The New Yorker''. The illustration, entitled ''Blowhard'', depicted U.S. president
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...
sitting in a sailboat, blowing a sail that was styled as a
KKK The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Ca ...
hood. The artwork, a reaction to Trump's remarks on the
Unite the Right rally The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, Neo-Nazism, neo- ...
in
Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen ...
, was widely covered in U.S. news media. Plunkert stated, "President Trump's weak pushback to hate groups – as if he was trying not to alienate them as voters – compelled me to take up my pen."


Awards and recognition

In 2009, Plunkert received the Best Poster Award at the
South by Southwest Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...
(SXSW) for the poster he designed for
Antidote Films Antidote Films, also known as Antidote International Films, Inc., is an independent film production company founded by producer Jeff Levy-Hinte based in the Hudson Square neighborhood of New York City. In 2008, Antidote completed several documen ...
' documentary ''
The Dungeon Masters ''The Dungeon Masters'' is a 2008 documentary film about the role playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and its significance in the lives of three dungeon masters (self described as "gamemasters"): Scott Corum, Richard Meeks and Elizabeth Reesman. ...
''. In 2011 Plunkert was inducted into the
Alliance Graphique Internationale Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) is a club of the world's leading graphic artists and designers. There are 527 members from 43 countries. Its members have been collectively responsible for the identity design of most of the world's top co ...
. He has received medals from the
Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...
in New York.


Bibliography

*"Visualizing Finance 1.0: Developing a Common Language" Visualizing Finance Lab *Steven Heller, Talarico Lita ed. "Typography Sketchbooks" Princeton Architectural Press *Ellen Lupton, Jennifer Cole Phillips. "Graphic Design: The New Basics" Princeton Architectural Press *Robin Landa. "Graphic Design Solutions" Wadsworth Publishing *John Foster, ed. "1,000 Indie Posters" Rockport Publishers *Marvin Scott Jarrett, ed. "Raygun Out of Control" Simon & Schuster *John Foster, ed. "New Masters of Poster Design: Poster Design *American Illustration: Eds. 9, 12-30, Vol 25 *David E. Carter, ed. "The New Big Book of Color" *Ochs, Michael ed., "The Greatest Album Covers That Never Were" *Pitzer, Chris ed., "Project: Telstar"
Adhouse Books AdHouse Books was an independent comic book publisher based in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded in 2002 by graphic designer Chris Pitzer. AdHouse was known primarily as a publisher of graphic novels, beginning with 2002's '' Pulpatoon: Pilgri ...
2003, *Sullivan, Jenny, ed. "Graphic Design America" Rockport Publishers, 2005, *"2 Color Graphics", Rockport Publishers, 2004,


Interviews and articles

*Meggs, Philip B., "Edgy Baltimore,"
Print (magazine) ''Print'' is an American design and culture website that began as ''Print, A Quarterly Journal of the Graphic Arts'', in 1940, and continued publishing a physical edition through the end of 2017 as ''Print''. As a printed publication, ''Print'' ...
, Vol XLIX:III, May/June 1995 *Graphis 305, Volume 25, September/October 1996 *Showroom, Novum World of Graphic Design, September 2003 *Graphis 351, Volume 60, May/June 2004 *Mooth, Bryn, "The Man with Two Brains," How Design & Illustration, August 2006 *American Illustration - American Photography "Profile", April, 2015


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plunkert, David 1965 births Living people American illustrators American graphic designers Shepherd University alumni